Heeding the privileges of the profession

AMA Leader Commentary. By Duane M. Cady, MD, July 4, 2005.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all physicians from the chair of the AMA Board of Trustees, Duane M. Cady, MD.

While preparing to become the 59th chair of the Board of Trustees of the Americzan Medical Association, I have been reminded at every turn of the complexity of our profession and the size of the challenges it faces.

I remember a goal my wife, Joyce, set for herself several years ago. She vowed she would scale and descend all 46 Adirondack high peaks in New York State. Today, Joyce is among the select members of the "46ers," having earned her membership one step at a time, one mountain at a time.

That's the kind of approach you and I need to take in dealing with the challenges ahead.

Like you, I have heard all kinds of ideas from outside the ranks of organized medicine about how to fix this or fix that. Some are simple. Many are easily understood. Many miss the mark.

What becomes clear when you dig deep is that the problems and issues that beset us have two things in common. First, they all derive from our unshakable dedication to our patients. And, second, they all deal with access to quality care.

The medical liability crisis that is eroding our ranks and assaulting our livelihood is a legal snarl that if you cut through the rhetoric and examine the fundamental issue is an issue of access to care.

Our concern for the 45 million uninsured Americans is a payment issue that prevents access to timely care. Everyone gets care. That's a certainty. But postponing or avoiding preventive care because of payment concerns means that too many Americans live sicker and die younger than those with coverage, all for want of insurance coverage.